The present specification relates to the field of email message delivery. More specifically, the present specification relates to the field of email message rendering to a user.
As a fast, reliable, and inexpensive method of transmitting messages and files, email is widely used for business and personal communication. Under a typical scenario, a user of an email client program composes an email message and indicates one or more email address to which the message will be sent. The email client program then transmits the message to an email server, which forwards the message either directly to a recipient email client (i.e., one using the same email server as the sender) or to an email server associated with the recipient email client.
Many users of email applications face a constant challenge in dealing effectively with the large quantities of email they typically receive. It is often difficult, for example, for a user to ensure that he or she is attending to the information, communications, and tasks received by email that are most important. For example, if a user's email inbox has a large number of unread email messages, it may require work for the user to sift through the inbox to identify and focus his or her efforts on the email messages that call for more immediate action.